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Caught by the Current
On Second Thought Advent is a season of waiting, but it is not a season of wandering. The church calendar intentionally slows us down in these weeks before Christmas, calling us to watchfulness, repentance, and renewed hope. While the world rushes toward celebration, Scripture invites us to examine the direction of our lives. Romans 6:15–23 confronts us with a sobering truth that fits Advent…
Trials refine faith and endurance, while temptations stem from our own desires, attempting to lead us away from God. James emphasizes that temptation originates within, not from God, who offers every good gift. Through understanding God's goodness and leveraging His Word, believers can resist temptation and embrace spiritual renewal, reinforcing trust over fear.
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Every believer encounters temptation, stemming from inner desires, not from God. James emphasizes recognizing and resisting temptation through prayer, Scripture, and accountability. By understanding its progression from desire to sin, one can achieve victory by relying on God's strength. Ultimately, yielding to temptation leads to sin and spiritual separation.
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Playing with Fire: The Danger of Compromising Our Integrity
"Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?"(Proverbs 6:27 ESV)https://t.co/aBAH0sDZIK— Klaus (@1whoconquers) September 5, 2024 Proverbs 6:27 asks a sobering question: “Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?” The imagery is vivid and clear—when we entertain sin or compromise, it’s only a matter of time before we get burned. No one can…
Where Sin Starts
Sin often starts in the mind, where foolishness takes root. What we entertain in our thoughts shapes who we become. Guard your mind, for it’s the battlefield where true victory or defeat begins. 🧠⚔️ #MindfulLiving #GuardYourThoughts #InnerBattles "Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness."(1st John 3:4)#Bible #Scriptures— Klaus (@1whoconquers)…
Overcoming Sin
Battling the Inner Conflict: Understanding the Nature of Sin within
Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one that does it, but it is the sin that lives in me. (Romans 7:20 CSB) Engaging Insight: Romans 7:20 delves into the internal struggle, highlighting the distinction between one’s desired actions and the influence of sin dwelling within. Practical Applications: Discern the Source: Recognize the presence of sin as a separate force within,…
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Monday: Reflection on the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Revised Common Lectionary Proper 18 Roman Catholic Proper 23
Complementary Hebrew Scripture Torah Lesson: Leviticus 4:27-31, 5:14-16
If anyone of the ordinary people among you sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done and incurs guilt, when the sin that you have committed is made known to you, you shall bring a female goat without blemish as your offering, for the sin that you have committed. You shall lay your hand on the head of the sin offering; and the sin offering shall be slaughtered at the place of the burnt offering. The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. He shall remove all its fat, as the fat is removed from the offering of well-being, and the priest shall turn it into smoke on the altar for a pleasing odor to the Lord. Thus the priest shall make atonement on your behalf, and you shall be forgiven.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: When any of you commit a trespass and sin unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, you shall bring, as your guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish from the flock, convertible into silver by the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering. And you shall make restitution for the holy thing in which you were remiss, and shall add one-fifth to it and give it to the priest. The priest shall make atonement on your behalf with the ram of the guilt offering, and you shall be forgiven.
Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture Torah Lesson: Exodus 12:14-28
There are parallel passages at Leviticus 23:4-8, Numbers 28:16-25, and Deuteronomy 16:1-8.
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall hold a solemn assembly, and on the seventh day a solemn assembly; no work shall be done on those days; only what everyone must eat, that alone may be prepared by you. You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your companies out of the land of Egypt: you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a perpetual ordinance. In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, you shall eat unleavened bread. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether an alien or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your settlements you shall eat unleavened bread.
Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down. You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children. When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed down and worshiped. The Israelites went and did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
Complementary Psalm 119:65-72
You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was humbled I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. The arrogant smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts. Their hearts are fat and gross, but I delight in your law. It is good for me that I was humbled, so that I might learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
New Testament Epistle Lesson: 1 Peter 2:11-17
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge.
For the Lord's sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
Year A Ordinary 23, RCL Proper 18, Catholic Proper 23 Monday
Bible verses from The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All right reserved. Selections from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright 1985 by Consultation on Common Texts. Image Credit: Beloved created by Michael Gilbertson for The Lectionary Comapany. This image may be used under the used under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 4.0.
